Young eagle released Wednesday after treatment for falls

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Veterinarian Allison Daugherty, Marcia Metzler and Melissa Richard, from left center, examine an approximately 3-month-old eaglet at the Lindsay Wildlife Rehabilitation Hospital in Walnut Creek, Calif., on Tuesday, June 19, 2018. Known by local bird watchers as “Lucky,” it was one of two being raised by a pair of adult American bald eagles in a redwood tree near Curtner Elementary School in Milpitas. It likely fell from its nest on June 17. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)

Marcia Metzler feeds a mouse to an approximately 3-month-old eaglet at the Lindsay Wildlife Rehabilitation Hospital in Walnut Creek, Calif., on Tuesday, June 19, 2018. Known by local bird watchers as “Lucky,” it was one of two being raised by a pair of adult American bald eagles in a redwood tree near Curtner Elementary School in Milpitas. It likely fell from its nest on June 17. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)

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Marcia Metzler holds an approximately 3-month-old eaglet as it’s examined at the Lindsay Wildlife Rehabilitation Hospital in Walnut Creek, Calif., on Tuesday, June 19, 2018. Known by local bird watchers as â€œLucky,â€ it was one of two being raised by a pair of adult American bald eagles in a redwood tree near Curtner Elementary School in Milpitas. It likely fell from its nest on June 17. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)

An approximately 3-month-old eaglet wears a hood and booties as it’s examined at the Lindsay Wildlife Rehabilitation Hospital in Walnut Creek, Calif., on Tuesday, June 19, 2018. Known by local bird watchers as “Lucky,” it was one of two being raised by a pair of adult American bald eagles in a redwood tree near Curtner Elementary School in Milpitas. It likely fell from its nest on June 17. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)

Veterinarian Allison Daugherty, Marcia Metzler and Melissa Richard, from right, examine an approximately 3-month-old eaglet at the Lindsay Wildlife Rehabilitation Hospital in Walnut Creek, Calif., on Tuesday, June 19, 2018. Known by local bird watchers as â€œLucky,â€ it was one of two being raised by a pair of adult American bald eagles in a redwood tree near Curtner Elementary School in Milpitas. It likely fell from its nest on June 17. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)

Marcia Metzler holds an approximately 3-month-old eaglet as it’s examined at the Lindsay Wildlife Rehabilitation Hospital in Walnut Creek, Calif., on Tuesday, June 19, 2018. A hood is put on the eagle’s head to help it remain calm. Known by local bird watchers as “Lucky,” it was one of two being raised by a pair of adult American bald eagles in a redwood tree near Curtner Elementary School in Milpitas. It likely fell from its nest on June 17. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)

Veterinarian Allison Daugherty, Marcia Metzler and Melissa Richard, from right, examine an approximately 3-month-old eaglet at the Lindsay Wildlife Rehabilitation Hospital in Walnut Creek, Calif., on Tuesday, June 19, 2018. Known by local bird watchers as 'Lucky,' it was one of two being raised by a pair of adult American bald eagles in a redwood tree near Curtner Elementary School in Milpitas. It likely fell from its nest on June 17. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)

Veterinarian Allison Daugherty gives subcutaneous fluids to an approximately 3-month-old eaglet as it’s examined at the Lindsay Wildlife Rehabilitation Hospital in Walnut Creek, Calif., on Tuesday, June 19, 2018. Known by local bird watchers as â€œLucky,â€ it was one of two being raised by a pair of adult American bald eagles in a redwood tree near Curtner Elementary School in Milpitas. It likely fell from its nest on June 17. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)

An approximately 3-month-old eaglet is released in an aviary after being examined at the Lindsay Wildlife Rehabilitation Hospital in Walnut Creek, Calif., on Tuesday, June 19, 2018. Known by local bird watchers as â€œLucky,â€ it was one of two being raised by a pair of adult American bald eagles in a redwood tree near Curtner Elementary School in Milpitas. It likely fell from its nest on June 17. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)

Veterinarian Allison Daugherty and Marcia Metzler, from right, release an approximately 3-month-old eaglet in an aviary after it was examined at the Lindsay Wildlife Rehabilitation Hospital in Walnut Creek, Calif., on Tuesday, June 19, 2018. Known by local bird watchers as â€œLucky,â€ it was one of two being raised by a pair of adult American bald eagles in a redwood tree near Curtner Elementary School in Milpitas. It likely fell from its nest on June 17. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)

The young eaglet known as “Lucky” is seen perched on a metal fence at
Curtner Elementary School in Milpitas on June 18, 2018, before wildlife
officials captured it in an effort to try and place it back in a tree near
where it fell from. (Photo by Raymond Chu/Our Milpitas Eagles Facebook
group)

California Department of Fish and Wildlife officer Byron Jones captures a
young eaglet known as “Lucky” at Curtner Elementary School in Milpitas on
June 18, 2018. (Photo by Raymond Chu/Our Milpitas Eagles Facebook group)

A young eaglet known as “Lucky” walks around the base of a tree at Curtner
Elementary School in Milpitas on June 18, 2018. (Photo by Jill Tierney/Our
Milpitas Eagles Facebook group)

California Department of Fish and Wildlife biologist Terris Kasteen
attempts to place a young eaglet known as “Lucky” in a redwood tree at
Curtner Elementary School in Milpitas on June 18, 2018. The bird later fell
from the tree, and was taken to a rehabilitation center in Walnut Creek.
(Photo by Jill Tierney/Our Milpitas Eagles Facebook group)

WALNUT CREEK — A young bald eaglet was released Wednesday after being cared for at a Walnut Creek rehabilitation center after two falls from a from a Milpitas redwood tree.

“The eaglet was successfully released very early Wednesday morning,” Elisabeth Nardi, a spokeswoman for the Lindsay Wildlife Rehabilitation Hospital said in an emailed statement Wednesday morning. The center did not say where the eaglet was released.

“For the safety and welfare of the animal the location is not being disclosed at this time. It is imperative that this animal be left alone so it can have a chance in the wild,” Nardi said, attributing the secrecy around the location to directives from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.

The roughly 3-month-old raptor had a hectic experience over the past few days. It fell Sunday morning from the tree where it and its family were nesting, then spent the night on the ground and endured a second fall Monday afternoon after state wildlife officials tried but failed to place it into another nearby tree.

“Lucky,” as local bird watchers have affectionately dubbed the eaglet, was taken to the hospital in Walnut Creek to be evaluated Monday night, and again on Tuesday.

Dr. Allison Daugherty, a veterinarian there, said Tuesday the 8-pound eaglet had a small bruise on its left wing but no major injuries from the spills.

“Medically, from my standpoint, the eagle looks pretty healthy,” Daugherty said, adding that it was given rehydrating fluids Monday night and more fluids along with some mice to eat Tuesday.

This was the first time a bald eagle has been treated at the hospital in roughly 20 years, she added.

Daugherty said earlier that many factors would be considered when determining whether the eaglet should be returned to the tree at Curtner Elementary School or released elsewhere.

“What’s the environment like, and are there people who are going to bother the eagle whether they mean to or not,” she said. She also noted officials want to avoid rousing the bird’s sibling, which is still in the nest and being cared for by the parents.

The bird attracted dozens of observers and photographers after falling Sunday and Monday, and officials set up temporary fencing to keep people away. Its parents, a pair of bald eagles, first nested in the tree in January 2017, raised a young eagle and returned this past January to raise two more.

Wildlife experts had warned in the past that the constant presence of people visiting to observe and photograph the birds could bother the birds.

“It’s hard to anticipate, obviously, how a wild animal is going to respond,” Daugherty said. “But I think our hope is … if it is flying a little stronger, then we can put it back potentially with its family and maybe they can continue to work with it.”

Joseph Geha is a multimedia journalist covering Fremont, Newark, and Union City for the Bay Area News Group, and is based at The Argus. His prior work has been seen in multiple Bay Area news outlets, including SF Weekly, as well as on KQED and KLIV radio. He is a graduate of California State University, East Bay (Hayward), and is a Fremont native. He is a lifelong Oakland Athletics fan.